


you know that part in pepper steak that goes wah wah wah? that but at 1/2 tempo and lofi beats to be gay to

by paopuleaf



Category: Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware
Genre: (gordon voice) so there's these he/theys, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Multi, Nonbinary Benrey (Half-Life), Not A Game AU, Post-Canon, Pre-Relationship, but like... just barely
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:41:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25794532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paopuleaf/pseuds/paopuleaf
Summary: it's four am. gordon is incredibly tired, but- between benrey and tommy, playing games and waiting for the local mcdonald's to start serving breakfast again, he's willing to stay up a little later (earlier? his sleep-deprived brain really doesnotcare if there's a difference.)it's worth it, in the end. (he knew it would be.)
Relationships: Benrey/Gordon Freeman, Benrey/Tommy Coolatta, Benrey/Tommy Coolatta/Gordon Freeman, Tommy Coolatta/Gordon Freeman
Comments: 17
Kudos: 283





	you know that part in pepper steak that goes wah wah wah? that but at 1/2 tempo and lofi beats to be gay to

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this in three hours while listening to pepper steak extended and my Gay Polycule Playlists on loop and it's one of my favorites! self-indulgent fluff .

“it’s four am,” gordon mumbles, lifting his head from tommy’s chest to look at benrey pointedly. their eyes stay locked on the screen, their minecraft character as jumpy as ever as they go through- a cave, or something. gordon’s eyes lost the ability to focus on anything but his own screen when the clock hit two. “benrey.” they still don’t look at him, although tommy does reach over and nudge them, arm lifting from gordon’s back to smack them on the cheek. 

no response. 

“ _ benrey. _ ” 

gordon shifts until he can drag his legs out of their lap, turning so that he’s in prime position to tackle them - and goes for it. they finally blink, controller falling out of their hands as they jolt. gordon clings to them and wiggles until he can talk again, still feeling so, so  _ out of it _ . “benrey. four am. i wanna go to  _ bed. _ ” 

“lil’- lil’ baby man can’t stay awake for another hour, get his- get his mickey donald’s brand big breakfast?” benrey snickers. they don’t even bother to grab their controller again, just wrapping their arms around gordon and flopping them both into tommy’s lap. tommy’s lap  _ is  _ comfortable. gordon has no problems with this in his sleep-addled mind. “only- only another hour n’ then eatin’ time- n’ then you can sleep- sleep all you want, bro, infinite sleep. sleep squared. exponential sleep.” 

“benrey- benrey’s right, gordon, it’s only another hour!” 

tommy has  _ no  _ fucking right to say  _ shit  _ when all he’s been doing is downing sodas, periodically, every  _ thirty fucking minutes.  _ benrey cackles, tommy looking a mix of amused and smug, and gordon realizes just a little too late he said that out loud. “fuck y’all, shut the fuck up, gonna… gonna get your ass in the morning, i swear.” 

“it- it’s already the morning-”

“tommy,” gordon pulls one of his arms out from under benrey to pat his shoulder, vision blurry, “tommy, tommy. tommy, i will get your ass  _ right now. _ ”

“i’d like to see you try!”

gordon’s brain goes blank, and he lets his arm drop and shoves his face into benrey’s hoodie, groaning. “both of you are awful and ‘m gonna pass the fuck out now, thanks.” 

“if you stay up for mickey donald’s, i’ll, uh-” benrey scrambles for something to say, before their voice shifts, and gordon doesn’t have to  _ see  _ to know they have that stupid little grin on their face, the one they always get right before they’re about to end gordon’s entire fucking career. “i’ll give you a little kissy. kissy on the cheek, from the benrey- the benrey boy, one hund-oh percent authentic.” 

“can i- i get a little kissy too?” 

“obv, tommy, wouldn’t- wouldn’t let a homie go- go un-kissy’ed.” 

this conversation is so fucking-  _ absurd.  _ gordon snorts and then breaks out into giggles, fingers clutching at both benrey’s hood and tommy’s pj shirt as he tries desperately to calm down. “this- hah, this is fucking  _ ridiculous-  _ y’know what, yeah, okay benrey, i’ll- i’ll take that. stay awake for- for-” deep breaths, gordon, don’t start hyperventilating now. he can already feel his wrist going numb. “for- for a little  _ kissy- _ ”

so much for staying calm. something about echo-ing the sentiment  _ out loud  _ sets gordon off again, and the other two join in, and he feels so fucking  _ warm,  _ god, could this moment last forever? 

it doesn’t, unfortunately, but gordon doesn’t stop feeling  _ warm _ , either, and that’s a compromise he can work with. 

benrey goads him into keeping up with minecraft, even when tommy tames too many wolves and sends the game lagging  _ hard  _ the minute gordon tries to get back into the base. when he finally manages to corral them into their own little place, benrey has filled the common room with cats -  _ “how did you get that many? holy shit?” “powers and, uh, abilities, bro!”  _ \- and then it’s five am and sunkist is tugging at tommy’s sleeve as his alarm goes off. 

“oh- okay, sunkist, we’ll- we’ll get up! don’t worry, that’s why i set the alarm,” he reassures, tapping his phone screen a couple times and turning it off. gordon groans, faceplanting into the cushion as tommy stands up and brushes himself off. “come- c’mon, gordon, almost sleep time. you promised benrey, right?” 

“yeah- yeah, bro, you made a prommy, gotta- gotta keep it, keep it close like- like the pokewalker on your belt,” benrey rambles, pushing themself to their feet and hissing slightly as they lose their balance. their tail lashes as they catch themselves; their blank expression is replaced with something a little closer to smug. “gonna pass out now? fucked up if t-” 

they lose balance again as gordon kicks his leg out, snagging them right in the back of the knee. “i’m  _ awake,  _ shut your fuck.” he manages to get to his feet, vision going static as he leans on tommy and waits for it to fade, eyes screwed shut. “this mcdonald’s better be worth it.”    
  


“it will be!” tommy sounds confident, smiling as he grabs his keys and shrugs on a jacket. “me and benrey used to- to do this all the time, before the resonance cascade, and it was- it was perfect!”

“nothing like a good meal after hours of playing bideo gaymes and some junk food, dude.” 

“mhm!” 

gordon gives what he thinks is probably a noise of affirmation in response, head still spinning as tommy guides him to the car and bundles him into the backseat, just a cupholder away from where benrey’s decided to curl up. “‘m gonna pass out,” he admits once tommy’s in the front seat and sunkist’s in shotgun, and benrey shakes their head. 

they pull out a pair of earbuds from god knows where, reaching over to shuffle around in  _ his  _ pockets and snatch his phone. “wh-” gordon watches, a little stunned, as they unlock his phone without a hitch and flip to the music app. offers him an earbud. puts on the playlist he made for them back when he found out how much music they had never even  _ heard  _ of. 

“not gonna- not gonna sleepy time on my watch. already made it so far.” 

he doesn’t protest as benrey sticks the earbud in his ear, just goes boneless on the cupholder and leans on their shoulder. “oh, i love this song!” he doesn’t question how tommy can hear it from up there, and instead closes his eyes as he begins to sing along. focuses on the fabric brushing against his skin and the feeling of benrey’s fingers intertwining with his, the way that tommy sends little vibrations through the car as he bounces, the way that sunkist’s tail wags and smacks him in the face a couple times because the car is so fucking small and gordon isn’t exactly in his own bubble right now. 

if he drifts off a couple times as they pull into the mcdonald’s drivethrough, the other two are willfully ignorant, letting him have the fleeting seconds of rest. he jolts awake as the cashier hands tommy their meals, and makes weak grabby hands for his. “big breakfast for us? for us, please? please, for us, thank you-” benrey cuts themselves off as tommy passes two back, pushing gordon up and away only to set his food on his now open lap. 

gordon fumbles with his fork and manages to get a big of pancake, only to sink back into his seat- god, okay, yeah, he gets what the hype was about, just a little. shitty mcdonald’s food after a night of warmth and company and video games? just about perfect. takes another bite, and another, and then he’s scarfing it down because the promise of sleep right after is even  _ better  _ to think about. 

“woah, bro, new- new speedrun record,” benrey deadpans- but their eyes are wide, fixed on his now empty plastic plate. 

“that’s- that’s really impressive! you must have been- been hungry, huh…” 

he shrugs and curls up, shivering a little bit in the ac and trying to find a comfortable position so he can pass the fuck out. “it was… worth it,” he manages to murmur, eyes sliding shut (he can still feel the warmth of tommy’s grin.) 

something warm and soft is thrown over him, a makeshift blanket, and as he drifts off, he swears he feels the lightest kiss on his cheek. 

blink. someone is carrying him- he can just barely make out the blurry red-yellow-white of tommy’s outfit. 

blink. wearing something - not his. familiar, though. he sinks into it easily, and it feels- comfortable. belongs.

blink. he’s in a bed, and the warmth is leaving. he reaches out and grabs it, loose but asking. 

blink. shuffled between two people, curled up around him as they drift off, all crashes and the ends of sleep highs. he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. 

blink. the world goes dark, and gordon rests.

**Author's Note:**

> hi gaymers back on my bullshit and also procrastinating my other wips ! hope you enjoyed :•] 
> 
> if you wanna come yell at me or share some fun headcanons or ideas, you can find me at either my main [@[rylron](https://rylron.tumblr.com)] or my new hl/vrai sideblog [@[gayassfreeman](https://gayassfreeman.tumblr.com)] ! go play OFF it's good and also completely irrelevant to this fic


End file.
